Hammer Onstage, Ozzy On His Knees, INXS On The Money : This Week In 1992

Rap star and spendthrift Hammer (remember “U Can’t Touch This”?) led a whole herd of dancers out on the road this week in 1992. The flashy MC chatted about the spectacle at the launch of his Too Legit to Quit world tour in Virginia.

“We’ll be wearing a lot of, you know, double-breasted outfits,” Hammer said. “Everything from street clothes to double-breasted suits to zoot suits, and there’s a lot of costume changes on the set.

“We have my 20 dancers and 15 background singers and about 14 band members, so you can expect a very, very exciting show,” he continued. “The set is enormous. It takes all of my dancers to cover it. It’s a stage for hard workers. While we do use some special effects, the bulk of what makes the stage come alive is the people.”

“I’ve never seen so many lights in my life. Lights were everywhere,” one fan exclaimed.

“I’m telling you, Hammer, he’s slamming,” another said.

Wildlife-gnawing metal icon Ozzy Osbourne played a benefit concert near Los Angeles this week in 1992 to raise funds to build a memorial to his late guitarist, Randy Rhoads, who died in a plane crash in March 1982. Unfortunately, the show turned into something of a mini riot after Osbourne invited fans in the front row up onstage to join him in a rendition of the Black Sabbath classic “Paranoid.” The fans got out of control, overwhelming security guards and trashing stage gear to the tune of $100,000. Osbourne himself was only able to escape the melee by crawling away on his hands and knees.

A much less frantic time was had by all at a benefit concert in Sydney, Australia, headlined by INXS and Crowded House. The show drew more than 100,000 fans and raised 1.5 million dollars for AIDS and cardiac research. It was said to be the biggest concert in Australian musical history up to that point.